The Evolution of Begging: Competition, Cooperation and Communication

by Jonathan Wright (Editor), Marty L. Leonard (Editor)

Begging by nestling birds has become the model system for investigating evolutionary conflicts of interest within families and their theoretical resolution provided by honest signals of offspring need. In response to the recent explosions of scientific papers on the revolution of begging; we have brought together twenty-four original contributions from major researchers in all areas of this dynamic field. Organised into six Theoretical approaches; Begging as a signal; Nestling physiology; Sibling competition; Brood parasitism; and Statistical approaches; this book is primarily aimed at research scientists and those at the graduate student level. For the first time, the theoretical and empirical literature on begging is fully reviewed. New ideas and data are also presented from a wide range of natural systems, and each chapter ends with suggestions for future study.

520 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

Jonathan Wright is a British journalist and literary translator. He studied Arabic, Turkish and Islamic civilization at St John's College, Oxford. He joined Reuters news agency in 1980 as a correspondent, and has been based in the Middle East for most of the last three decades. He has served as Reuters' Cairo bureau chief, and he has lived and worked throughout the region, including in Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Tunisia and the Gulf. From 1998 to 2003, he was based in Washington, DC, covering U.S. foreign policy for Reuters.
Wright came to literary translation comparatively late. His first major work of translation was Taxi, the celebrated book by Egyptian writer Khaled al-Khamissi. This was published by Aflame Books in 2008 and republished by Bloomsbury Qatar in 2012. Since then, he has translated several works including Azazeel and The State of Egypt.